Can't stop worrying

I'm nearly 21 weeks pregnant and really can't sleep at the moment because I simply can't stop worrying, from little things to really big issues. The one thing that's been stressing me out more than anything is what to do if I suddenly go into labour as DD is 2 so I'm worried about going into labour when I'm home along with her or in the middle of the night, we can't just expect one of our friends to look after her last minute. What are the chances that the hospital can schedule me in to be induced so I know when it's going to happen and we can schedule our childcare around it. I'm also worried about the hospital giving me penicillin if I carry group b strep like last time, I've got stickers on my notes but the hospital is notorious for being incompetent and it could kill me.

First thing first about the penicillin, I too have a very serious allergy to penicillin (think coma and possibly fatal reaction) when I gave birth to my dd three years ago I had to wear a red paper bracelet (like those you get at festivals or activity parks) to let everybody know I had a serious allergy. The words penicillin amoxicillin were written in large letters on it too. As far as I know that's standard nhs hospital practice so make sure your hospital follows the guidelines when you are admitted and that should take some of the worry away.

About going in labour and needing child care suddenly, I totally get why you would worry a little, I think about it too. Dd is nearly 3 and I'm 19 wks pregnant. But realistically, even if you were to go in labour (as in feel your first few contractions) in the middle of the night or when you are alone with her you won't have to go to hospital immediately. It is unlikely that you would have a labour of less than 2-3 hours from first contraction to baby in arms. I know that it's a possibility but it's much more likely that you will have a couple of hours of early labour pains warning you it's coming and that should give you enough time to sort something out for you dd. make sure you know who you are calling when you go in labour and make sure to have a back up or two and also make sure they know they are being called upon when you go in labour and all should go perfectly smoothly.

I don't think they would induce you in these circumstances and having been induced with my first I'm really hoping not to be induced with the second. It's not as easy a process as many people think and it can and probes.by would take 2-3 days in hospital from beginning to finish. That is assuming you can leave soon after he birth, I had to stay in 2 days after the birth and was in hospital all told for 5 days and it really wasn't great. I wouldn't want to be away from dd for this long just before bringing in her new sibling. But that is my personal view on it and it might not be yours or shared by others.

If you talk to friends about it now so they have prior warning that it could happen, I'm sure many people would actually be pleased to be asked and happy to be on standby. If one of my friends asked me to be standby childcare in a situation like this, I wouldn't mind being woken in the night if necessary.

I doubt a hospital would agree to an induction for childcare reasons - they can make labour more painful and I think there's some evidence they slightly increase the chances of intervention being needed. I was induced last time round just because I was 2 weeks overdue, and regret agreeing to it now.